On Stranger Tides

MadEmperor · December 20, 2023, 09:21:42 AM

Thrax shooed her off and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm fine, babe. Just... need a second for the ringing to stop."

He rose to his feet with a groan. "Yeah, I'm feeling that tomorrow." The gnoll shook his head to clear it. "Captain! We need to get moving! This thing is closing in fast!"

The entity fired a warning shot across the bow.

"And it's angry."

DragonSong · December 20, 2023, 10:32:56 AM

Hana gave him a concerned look, but backed off. They didn't have time for her to be overly fussy about it.

She winced as the warning shot blew a few slivers of wood off the figurehead--a woman in adamantine armor--and looked around.

"Cap, I think your mage is about to faint," she noted a second before Lars swayed and nearly hit the deck. Percy grabbed him under the arms, and Gracia joined the gnoll and the kitsune in looking out over the rail at the ghostly galleon.

"It's moving faster without wind than we do with a full gale," Gracia muttered, before whirling and barking orders at her crew. "We need to get out of this fog!"

Hana's eyes widened. Fog.

"I'm an idiot!" She grabbed Thrax's arm and pointed to the crow's nest. "If we get up there, can you use Stormsong to try to keep that thing distracted for a few minutes?"

MadEmperor · December 20, 2023, 11:26:56 AM

Thrax sighed. He hated climbing. "Yeah."

He smirked. "I've never run from a hostile audience and I'm not going to start now."

Moving to the mast, he began climbing up the rope ladder to the crow's nest. From there, he could barely make out the glowing phantasmal vessel but he could make out a few unpleasant details that he hadn't previously seen.

The ship had eyes--eyes and a jagged rend in the prow shaped like a mouth.

"What the hells are you?"

DragonSong · December 20, 2023, 01:40:45 PM

Hana scampered up into the nest before Thrax--she knew he wasn't a climber by nature, and she needed to get up as quickly as she could.

She winced when she got a better view of the attacking ship. "That is not friendly-looking," she muttered, moving to the edge of the crow's nest and leaning out as far as she dared.

"I'm gonna use the fog," she told Thrax quickly over her shoulder. "I'm gonna see if I can make another ship--an illusion--and try to draw it off. Or at least distract it. We just need enough time to get out of this fog bank."

She bit her lip as she glanced at him. "But an illusion that big is gonna take a lot. And it's gonna take some time. Think you can keep it from latching onto us while I work?"

MadEmperor · December 20, 2023, 02:04:14 PM

Thrax scratched his ear thoughtfully. "Come to think of it... How am I supposed to do that? Its song would probably attract it, so... maybe something with the opposite vibe would repel it?"

DragonSong · December 20, 2023, 05:04:12 PM

"Maybe?" She looked at him uncertainly and shrugged. "It seems worth a shot--I mean, if that doesn't work...can you do more lightning?"

Although she didn't love the idea of him wielding a spell like the one he'd done on deck and accidentally blasting himself out of the crow's nest.

MadEmperor · December 21, 2023, 08:06:55 AM

"That's definitely Plan B."

Thrax cleared his mind of everything that wasn't music. Sorting through his repertoire, he carefully identified the most upbeat, lively song he knew. Then, he started to play.

The haunted fog seemed to draw back from his immediate surroundings, and the phantasm howled softly in displeasure. "Hah! It's working!"

He called down to the crew. "Everybody! Sing with me!"

DragonSong · December 21, 2023, 02:03:50 PM

The members of the crew that heard him shot incredulous looks toward the crow's nest.

But the captain caught his shout, and quickly realized what he was doing. Looking to her crew, Gracia bellowed, "You heard the man! Sing!"

Hana was gripping the edge of the nest so hard her knuckles had gone completely white, her eyes screwed shut in concentration. Her ears were pinned back to her head, tails lashing back and forth.

Slowly, very slowly, the fog off their starboard bow began to swirl into a vague shape. Another galleon.

MadEmperor · December 21, 2023, 02:44:33 PM

The phantasm began to turn towards the nearer prey. There was no telling what it would do when it discovered no life there, but for now they had a chance to get some distance from it.

Yet Thrax kept playing, sure it would target the Lady anew if he stopped. Besides, he was never not going to seize an opportunity to perform. It was kind of awesome, really.

Gracia ordered the crew to their stations so that they could flee. The ship's doctor fetched some smelling salts to rouse Lars so that he could encourage the wind to speed them along.

But as they began to gain a little distance, the phantasm seemed to realize the ruse. With a gruesome howl, it turned to pursue.

DragonSong · December 21, 2023, 04:50:22 PM

Hana kept the illusion going as long as she could—but when the attacking ship gave that howl, she gasped and let the magic go.

That sort of illusion work was one of the most powerful spells she'd ever performed. And that right after her massive fireball in junction with Lars' and Thrax's spells.

But it seemed to have got them some distance at least.

"I—" She swayed, eyes fluttering, knees trembling and threatening to give out—and then she pitched sideways over the edge of the crow's nest.

MadEmperor · December 22, 2023, 08:18:43 AM

"Hana!" Thrax cried out. He dropped Stormsong to the floor of the crow's nest and lunged after her, just managing to catch her leg before she would have plummeted to her death.

"I've got you!" Using his impressive strength, he hauled her back up.

DragonSong · December 22, 2023, 12:31:06 PM

The world was spinning around her, even after Thrax had pulled her back up into the stability of the crow's nest. Her heart was racing from the near miss, and her stomach churned with a mixture of belated fear and magical overextension.

"Wh-where...?" She licked her lips and pressed a little into the solidity of Thrax even as she turned her head to look out into the fog. "How...close is it?"

MadEmperor · December 22, 2023, 12:58:45 PM

Thrax held her tight, his heart still racing from nearly losing her. He was only vaguely aware of the ghost ship as he glanced in its direction in order to answer her question. "Far enough for us to have a chance."

"You did good, babe; real good." He smiled softly before taking on a serious look. "But never overextend in a high place ever again, okay?"

DragonSong · December 22, 2023, 04:04:32 PM

"...Okay." She nodded shakily and turned her head into his chest. Looking out from this height was...mildly terrifying, now.

"Didn't mean to do that," she breathed with a trembling sort of laugh. "Thanks for—thanks."

MadEmperor · December 22, 2023, 04:30:51 PM

He gently rubbed her back and rested his head on top of hers. "I'll always have your back. Just as you'll have mine."

Their tender moment was interrupted by a cannon shot. Down on deck, what appeared to be a sphere of bones crashed into the deck, shaking the crow's nest.

"Right. Still in danger," he sighed. Smirking unconvincingly, he said, "Duty calls."

DragonSong · December 22, 2023, 06:55:01 PM

Hana nodded, pressing her nose into the swoop of the collar of his shirt to let the familiarity of his scent wash over her, grounding her.

Well. They were still too high up for any proper "grounding", but close enough.

"Right." She moved cautiously toward the edge of the nest. "Still in danger."

She glanced down, then back up at Thrax. "You'd better go first—my magic is all but spent, you'll be of more use quicker than I will."

MadEmperor · December 23, 2023, 07:53:54 AM

Thrax nodded as he picked up Stormsong. "Take a breather before trying to climb down, okay?" he advised as he climbed onto the rope ladder.

Below, the ball of bones began to rearrange itself, unfurling into a giant, skeletal isopod. As the crew engaged the creature, more of the bone cannon balls crashed into the deck.

DragonSong · December 23, 2023, 01:17:45 PM

"Sure, hun."

Of course, she didn't. She knew he was right and she should, but they didn't have time for her to take a breather. Her magic might be shot, but she still had teeth and claws, and she'd use them.

Once Thrax had got far enough down the ropes that she didn't think her own tired weaving would disturb his grip she started climbing down after him. The whole ship seemed to shudder with the impacts of the second two shots, and she had to cling to the rigging to avoid being throw off onto the deck.

"Gods, what else do they have?!"

MadEmperor · December 23, 2023, 02:22:52 PM

Thrax kicked off of the ladder a couple of feet from the bottom and turned to survey the scene. "Roly poly bone bugs? Sure, why not?"

He shrugged Stormsong off of his shoulder and rushed to meet a creature in the middle of a leap. The axe cracked its bony carapace and sent it crashing into a nearby barrel. It released an insectile clicking sound that caused the other creatures to focus on the gnoll.

DragonSong · December 23, 2023, 07:43:26 PM

As the other two creatures rounded on Thrax, Hana growled and dropped the last ten feet to the deck. She shifted forms midair, landing with a sizable thump on four massive paws.

The magic use had drained her, and she wouldn't be creating anymore illusions for a while, but the shapeshifting was a part of her. She may be tired, but she was standing.

She lowered her head with a menacing growl as she stalked to cover the bard's back, four tails lashing and red eyes almost glowing in the fog.